A blinding green light flashed across my vision. I tried to run, to squirm, scream it away, but the assault continued. It burned hotter than lava but cooler than the chill of shadows. It was energy, potent power, a nuclear reactor inside my bones that demanded I move.

It flashed again; I yelled. The light seared my retinas. I begged it to stop.

It pushed past my flesh and broke my bones to reach my core. I screamed until the last light of the world blinked out of existence.

It churned, it writhed, it…

Burned!

Make it stop! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!

Yet my demands, my pleas, my cries for mercy didn't end. The energy did what it wanted, unconcerned for my needs. The lava chilled, the shadows blazed into black embers.

A whine… A forlong howl…

It whimpered.

The energy screamed into my ears, pushed past my skull and dug its claws into my thoughts.

CHOICE! MAKE A CHOICE!

Go away!

CHOICE! CHOOSE! FLESH OR BONES!

Stop! Leave. Stop the pain!

FLESH OR BONES! FLESH OR BONES! FLESH OR BONES!

Go A-

FLESH OR BONES! FLESH OR BONES! FLESH OR BONES!

Bones! I choose Bones!

It released its claws, and my world vibrated, shaking every atom of my being. There wasn't even pain. Only vibrations. Until I heard a snap.

"Push his legs down! Break them if you have to!"

Let go! Let go! Let go!

It hurt. It hurt. IT HURT!

I tried to sit up, but the world held me down.

"Damnit Cain! Stop!"

Copper drowned my throat. I pushed, I pushed! It didn't stop.

Snap!

More pain rushed in. The world crushed me mercilessly. My arm came free. I felt meat under my fingers, and I scratched.

Release me!

"Devon! He's shifting!"

"I know."

"Devon! Wai-"

Vibrations, and the world stuttered.

I…

Again, something moved the universe, and everything began to fade.

No thoughts, no pain. Only emptiness.

***

"Mmmnngh," I groaned.

I couldn't think coherently. All I felt was a headache. It pounded in my skull, a constant thump that racked my thoughts.

"He's waking up," came a female voice from my left.

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I tried to open my eyes, but my neck wouldn't cooperate. It took another minute before I slowly inched it upward and tried to open my eyes.

That didn't work either.

Oh this is way too familiar.

"Wh-what happened?" I said through parched lips.

Something moved and hit the ground behind me. I wanted to look, but my body said no.

When hands grabbed the back of my head and raised it up, I had to stop myself from biting my tongue in frustration. Eventually, my head was placed onto something firm but soft, and something began to pull at my eyelids.

"Ow!"

"Sorry," came a familiar voice.

As my eyes were peeled open, I blinked the brightness away and found Alice staring at me from above. Her pale-blue eyes scanned my face, and I frowned.

"What happened?" I croaked.

She looked to the side, but due to how my head was positioned, whatever she looked at was just out of sight. When she turned back, she gently sat me up more and tried to lower a waterskin into my mouth.

I nearly choked.

"Th-thanks."

"No problem," she responded.

Now that I sat up more, I searched my surroundings and found myself outside on grass near the road. It was by the campfire we made; the embers had long gone white as it ran out of fuel to burn. Beyond the remnants of the fire, a familiar red cloak caught my eye, and I adjusted to take in Devon staring at me from underneath a tree.

"Hello?"

"Pup," he said coolly.

Oh, he sounds annoyed.

"Okay, whatever happened, I'm sorry?"

There was a brief flicker in his eyes, and he winced.

"You don't remember anything?" Alice asked.

I tried to shake my head, but it sent my eyesight spinning, so I stopped before I threw up.

Ough, that sucks. Not doing that again.

"No. I. vague memories of something screaming at me, the world shaking. And then something jarring me. That's it."

"Do you have a system notification?" Devon asked.

It was posed as a question, but from his tone, it was a demand. I studied his face underneath his hood, but he kept it as still as a statue.

Fine.

The rainbow notification was still there, it having refused to work ever since I took in Rock-splitter's blood. But when I tried to expand it, it complied. Rainbow colors stretched across my vision until they broke apart into lines of gold.

The new notification flashed across my screen, and my jaw dropped to the floor.

[Alert] Beginning system integration of: Blood of the Keeper

…

…

…

[ALERT] WARNING: LORE MATRIX INSTABILITY

…

…

…

ERROR% LORE STRAIN EROSION ERROR%

There was a brief pause in the system-log. It was like the system skipped and then rebooted the way it did whenever it closed and re-opened.

[Alert] Redirecting Energy

…

…

…

[Alert] Excessive Energy refocused

…

…

…

OVERFLOW OF EXCESS

Again, it buffered, and then things became wonky.

[ALERT] VESSEL MUST MAKE A CHOICE

CAIN VELDMAN MUST CHOOSE

…

…

…

[ALERT] REDIRECTION TO LORE MATRIX CHOICE REFINED

CHOOSE: Constitution path

CAIN VELDMAN MUST CHOOSE

…

…

…

A choice has been made. Lore Matrix Assimilation underway

…

…

…

[Alert] Changes to the Lore Matrix: Accepted

A third buffer appeared; this time, the golden lines had a massive space before the final entry.

[Alert] Assimilation Compete. Added passive: Bones of the Keeper

Devon stayed silent, but Alice lowered her head until her hair swept my face.

"Your eyes are different. There are specks of gold swirling around your irises. And your green is brighter. It's almost glowing," she said.

"Grab my axe. Wait, no, it's made of stone now."

Alice jostled my head and shifted around, but her battleaxe swung into view, stopping just above my face. Her meticulous care for it ensured the blade was clean and held a near mirror-like polish.

She was right. My eyes were an even brighter shade of emerald that swirled with golden flecks that would fade once they reached the edge of my iris. It was… a change. I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about it.

"Thank you," I whispered.

She nodded and set her axe down. I tried to move my eyelids and found they were able to blink. Alice pulled her fingers away and helped me sit up. The whole thing made me feel like an old man, but soon a tingling appeared at the base of my neck that stretched down. As it spread throughout my body, it sharpened into jolts before calming.

Testing my neck carefully, I moved it side to side and found it working normally.

Ok, no longer paralyzed. Good.

"You're heavy, too heavy," Alice commented. "More than before."

"Pull up your status sheet. What changed?" Devon said.

I frowned and willed the dot to appear and stretch out. As my status sheet formed, my jaw dropped at the change to my stats.

Name: Cain Veldman

Title: Crimson Hunter

Auxiliary Title: String Cutter

Level: 4

Stats:

* STR: 17

* AGI: 14

* CON: 24

* INT: 16

* WIS: 16

* LUK: 18

Skills Unlocked:

* Summon Familiar (Freki)

Passive Skills:

* Ember Soul

* Shadow Bond

* Bones of the Keeper

I temporarily closed the sheet and scrunched my face. "Ever heard of someone losing stat points?"

Devon's eyes narrowed. "Extremely rare but can happen, usually a trade in power or a temporary curse."

"What changed? Is that why you feel heavier?" Alice butted in.

"Yeah… I gained six points to constitution and two points to luck and strength. But my agility went down two points," I whispered, looking up slowly. Alice stared at me with a dangerous expression while Devon continued to stare. "And I got a new passive skill."